Alternate Ending
by celticas
Summary: The title says it all. One version of how the last book could have ended


A/N: So this story is only going to have a few chapters and I am hoping to get it done in a few months, I have uni exams coming up otherwise it would be faster.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Black Magician.

Rothen and Lorlan stood on the top of the university building, looking down on Akkarin and Sonea as they fought three of the Ichani black magicians. Against the power the three invaders were sending towards the pair made the Kyralian magicians appear small and weak. Rothen turned away from the impending massacre and headed towards the stairs that would lead him to the help of Akkarin and Sonea.

"Rothen Stop." Lorlen had turned to watch the alchemist. "You can't do anything to help them."

"I can't allow them to die down there alone, still believing that they are in disgrace. I can't leave Sonea down there Lorlen!" Rothen turned back towards the stairs and yanking the door open, stormed down the stairs.

Getting to the bottom floor Rothen made his way out a side door that brought him out on a side of the building where the invaders would not be able to see him. Slowly advancing towards the corner of the building where he could see the battle. With the Ichani in his sight Rothen let all the magic he had left flow into the ground and race towards the magician closest to him. When the first of the magic was under the feet of the Sachakan Rothen sent the magic directly upwards. The magician had allowed his shield to disintegrate below the ground which meant that Rothen's strike burnt him to death from his feet upwards. As he died the energy that he had left exploded outwards in with the light and heat of a supernova. Unfortunately for the magician standing next to him his comrade had more magic left than he did and the expanding sphere of burning air ripped through his shield and killed him in seconds. The blast continued and the weaker after shock rammed into Rothen and smashed him into the wall that he had been hiding behind.

Sonea and Akkarin slowly advanced towards the Arena and the last remaining enemy. Akkarin was holding a defensive shield of their combined energy, while Sonea threw a variety of strikes, even the generally forbidden mindstrike. None of the other magicians were objecting though, for if they objected to that they would also have to object to the mere presence of the pair in Kyralia.

As known black magicians the pair had been exiled from the guild and the country. However they had returned in the wake of the Sachakan Ichani invaders. Now with the last of their power they struggled for the survival of a society who had scorned them and thrown them to he wolves when their "crimes" had been revealed.

Sonea could slowly feel the other magician struggling to hold onto his defensive shield. Pulling Akkarin with her she pushed forward while maintaining her attack on the last invader. She was too focused on the energy the other magician was using to notice that her own was lagging dangerously low and that Akkarin was almost completely exhausted. He on the other hand had been keeping a close eye on their magic levels and realised that to defeat the Ichani he would have to give her the last of his power.

Rothen lay to the side exhausted as he watched Sonea and Akkarin battle against the last threat to their home. He watched as Sonea began to move forward with more determination. He saw worry flash across Akkarin's face and then cool acceptance settle across his features. Looking at the pair and considering all he knew Rothen was able to guess what the old High Lord had in mind.

"Good bye my love" Akkarin's voice flashed through Sonea's mind. She wondered at his meaning but was too focused on the fight to ask him. She only took more notice when the stream of magic he was sending her became tinged with an energy she recognised as his but was also foreign to her. She looked at his power source and realised that he did not have much more to give. She became worried as the power he was passing to her did not let up.

About to pull away from him Sonea stopped with a jolt as she realised that a third power was being thrown into her own. Letting go of the thread of Akkarin's power she wrapped her mind around the new magic and threw it at the Ichani. At this point in the battle she did not care where the extra energy was coming from as long as it did not end with Akkarin dead. Sonea watched as the extra magic seared the last invader to a fine dust that was blown away in the soft morning breezes.

Sonea turned to take in the devastation around her. She took in the battle scared buildings and the charred dirt that surrounded them. She gasped as she saw Rothen lying just behind her. She took in his unmoving form before almost flying to his side. Sliding to a stop on the sand Sonea crouched beside him and sent her mind into his body, searching desperately for some spark, some sign that he was still there. Finding nothing she tried to push some of her magic into him but something pulled her away. Striking out Sonea struggled against whatever it was that was stopping her from saving the closest thing to a father she had ever had.

"Sonea, Sonea! You have to let him go. If you try to bring him back you will just get yourself killed." Akkarin held onto Sonea and tried to talk some sense into her.

"NO! I won't let him die Akkarin. I can't let him die!" Sonea renewed her struggle against his arms.

"Sonea, love, I have been through too much to let you die in vain. He knew he was giving up his life for you. He would not want you to give that up is some foolish attempt at playing god." Akkarin slowly dragged her away from Rothen.

Sitting with Sonea against his body Akkarin held her as she cried. He felt a small group approaching behind them. If they were enemies he had nothing left to fight them with, not if he didn't want to leave Sonea with no one. All he could hope to do was draw them away from Sonea. Slowly he allowed one long fingered hand to drop to the dirt beside him and gathered a fist full of sand and gravel. As the footsteps got closer Akkarin tensed and gently eased Sonea's weight off himself. Feeling them only an arm's length behind them Akkarin spun around on his knees and threw the hand full of debris at the people behind him. As he grabbed up another hand of sand he finally registered who he was pelting with rubble. Realising that they were no threat, he turned back to his grief ridden love. Easing her back up against his body Akkarin left the others to move Rothen's body out of the open ground in front of the Arena.

As the sunset Sonea had still not moved from her position against Akkarin. A few magicians, who had not fled the city, returned after the thieves had got the word out that all the Ichani in the city were defeated. As they entered the guild grounds they stopped to check on the pair on their way to beginning to reorder their lives. Before they could get into a detailed discussion with Akkarin, another magician would hurry forward and drag them away from the pair.

With darkness approaching Akkarin decided that he could no longer allow Sonea to drown in her grief. Lifting her up he carried her towards the Servants Quarters. One of the magicians had told him that they were the only buildings that were safe to stay in on guild grounds and the magicians had only just been able to return to their home, they were not about to leave it again. Not anytime soon anyway.

Reaching the outlying buildings Akkarin saw two worn out warriors standing guard at the doors. He was surprised to see them there as the whole city had withdrawn into itself and was taking stock of its losses. Akkarin didn't think that anyone would be hassling them for a while. If he had not been working with the thieves he would have been more worried that the general population would blame the magicians for the invasions, but he knew that his allies in the lower classes would get the word out about the true reasons behind the foreign magicians' invasion.

When Akkarin was only a few feet from the entrance one of the guards opened the door as the guard realised that Akkarin would be unable to with Sonea cradled in his arms. Seeing the guard holding the door open he realised that they were screening entrants for anymore Ichani that may have evaded the killing grounds that the inner city, palace and guild had become.

Once inside a returned novice directed Akkarin to lay Sonea down on an old couch and then lead him to where the other magicians were gathering in the servant food hall.


End file.
